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After her divorce, Samantha Hillis was suddenly thrown into the role of single mother. After taking control of her lifestyle, she lost an amazing 80 pounds. Samantha is proud to lead by example and she’s now enjoying activities with her young son that she never thought would be possible.

More from Samantha in her own words -

Tell me when your weight struggles began. I have always been overweight. Growing up I was the only overweight person in my family. I had tried to lose weight many times with pills and meal replacements, but I didn’t change my diet so nothing seemed to work.

What habits specifically led you to gain weight? When I got pregnant I gained 80 pounds! I went from staying between 200 and 210 to 280. After having my son I lost about 50 pounds, but my diet still wasn’t on point. I ate fast food every day, and when I did cook at home we would eat fried foods or a ton of pasta. I would rather sit on the couch and watch the Food Network than go for a walk.

What caused you to realize you needed to change? Nothing ever fit right, and I was never able to share clothes with friends or my sisters. I hated going shopping because I didn’t want to believe that I was in a size 18/20. When I got divorced last year I went to the doctor. I almost cried when I saw the number 248 flashing on the scale in front of me. I had gained 15 pounds in ONE month. That’s when I knew I needed to get healthy for my son.

Personal trainers are supposed to be the cheerleaders of the gym. Their role is to guide us through our weight loss journey by challenging us to work harder, demonstrating proper technique, answering questions, and giving the all-important pep talk. Unfortunately, they can also be overzealous, insensitive, inappropriate, and downright rude.

If you have a bad experience with a personal trainer but love your gym, it can seem like an inequitable fitness divorce. The personal trainer gets to keep the house (gym) with the pool while you sulk away with your bag of funky sweaty towels and workout clothes.

The Bored Trainer

After the birth of my second daughter I joined a local YMCA to get back in shape and eliminate my “bingo wings.” I was a tired mama looking for a beacon of weight loss hope. Instead, I was introduced to my personal trainer, the apathetic chubby lady babysitter. I talked about my goals. He yawned. I didn’t know how to turn on a stair climbing machine. He told me to get on, pushed all the buttons for me, and then watched Judge Judy on the gym TV while I tried not to pass out. Read Full Post >

Shelly Jones lives by the motto, “Keep moving forward.” After losing 57 pounds, she was waylaid by knee surgery and other external forces beyond her control. Though she’s been frustrated by the lack of movement on the scale, she knows there are other methods to chart her success including the way her body feels, the healthy choices she makes and in the way her clothes fit.

When Shelly went swimsuit shopping this summer she said she almost started crying. “I realized how much smaller I looked in the mirror and how much better I feel.” Regarding the picture below, Shelly admitted, ” That girl in the first two pictures, while happy, was miserable.”

More from Shelly in her own words:

Tell me when your weight struggles began. My weight struggles started when I was a child. Many of my fondest memories have food in them. I am not sure at what point I became fat, but I can recall being made fun of as early as 3rd grade.

What habits specifically led you to gain weight? God created me a little on the sensitive side with a flare for drama and these emotions were handled with food. They still are to this day. As much as I showed my emotions, I covered them up inside, calorie after calorie.

What caused you to realize you needed to change? I have always known I needed to change, I just had difficulty making it happen. I do not want to pass down a legacy of bad food choices, dependence on food, or an unhealthy body weight or image to my girls.

Ben Affleck was a brief topic of conversation the other night when Jennifer Lopez stopped by the Bravo TV Clubhouse to chat it up with host, Andy Cohen. Among the dish was an assertion by J Lo that she helped Ben with his fashion choices during their two year relationship saying, “I did kind of like say, ‘you need to be, you know – You’re a movie star! You should wear a suit. . . ‘

Oh, Ben is going to wear a suit alright, a BAT SUIT! And by the look of some recently leaked photos, he’s going to fill it out nicely. My goodness. Is it warm in here?

When director, Zack Snyder, made the announcement that Ben Affleck would play the iconic role in the upcoming Superman sequel, Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the interwebs wasted no time declaring that the actor best known for roles in Armageddon, Good Will Hunting, and Argo, had no business playing a super hero.

Ben shrugged off the bat-hate and then went out and just got ripped, you guys. Though no details have been released about his prep for the movie, we do know that he’s working with celebrity nutritionist and natural bodybuilder, Rehan Jalali, who also helped him get cut and chiseled for the 2010 movie, The Town.

According to Jalali, Ben’s previous diet consisted of six to seven small meals per day with a focus on lean protein (wild salmon) carbs (sweet potatoes), plus essential fats (almonds). In a Twitter Q&A session this spring, Jalali would only say, “the training is very focused and intense. We’re going for a real-life super hero look.”

If you’ve decided that working out on your old elliptical machine while re-watching Breaking Bad episodes on Netflix isn’t helping you achieve maximum weight loss results, maybe it’s time to get out of the basement and join a gym. While some fitness centers offer bare-bones equipment for an affordable price, others offer a wide variety of amenities, but you’ll definitely pay to play.

Before you get out your wallet, decide what’s important to you in a fitness center and what you’re willing to pay for, then choose a gymaccordingly. Below is a brief overview to help you make your decision. From Mild-Mannered to Big and Fancy, what do you need for your workout experience in 2014?

Mild Mannered $ – Planet Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Curves, Blink

Low membership fees and no-hassle contracts mean you can get in shape without taking out a 2nd mortgage

Often cater to first-time gym members by discouraging intimidating behavior like grunting, growling and gun-showing in the weight room

Easy-to-use cardio and strength equipment, so you actually spend your time working out, not punching buttons and reading the user’s guide

No children allowed and no child care. Is that necessarily a bad thing, though? Time away from the kids is OK, especially if you’re getting healthy

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